It mostly covers my work as UNISON Scotland's Head of Policy and Public Affairs although views are my own. For full coverage of UNISON Scotland's policy and campaigns please visit our web site. You can also follow me on Twitter. I hope you find this blog interesting and I would welcome your comments.

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Action on climate change

I was giving oral evidence to the Scottish Parliament Local Government and
Regeneration Committee this morning on the Draft Report on Proposals and Policies
(RPP2) for tackling climate change in Scotland.

Recent international reports have highlighted the world’s high carbon
emission trajectory and the impact has been evidenced through the record Arctic
ice melt in 2012, the hottest decade on record for global temperatures, and a growing
body of evidence linking extreme weather events to climate change. In Scotland
we have world leading climate change legislation. However, delivery needs to
match the rhetoric and these latest proposals and polices fall short
of what is required.

There is an over reliance on proposals over
policies, as well as on the EU increasing its climate change target. As the
Stop Climate Change Coalition (SCCS) emphasised at the time of the Bill’s
passage through Parliament, we need to make a strong start otherwise the task
becomes too great and future government’s will argue they are unable to meet
the targets. This means we need more action in the form of proposals not vague
policies. Unless all proposals described are fully
implemented and the EU changes its level of ambition, Scotland will meet just
one annual target between now and 2027.

There is a lack of transparency in order to
inform independent assessment of these plans. RPP2 actually provides less
information than RPP1. It no longer distinguishes between UK, EU and
Scottish policies as clearly as did previously, nor does it provide estimates
of costs for proposals. In the current financial environment that is obviously
important as is a full account of the costs and benefits by sector.

The plans simply don’t provide a credible
route to reducing emissions at the rate required, let alone build a low carbon
economy. It is hard to identify an increase in policy effort in RPP2.Certainly the ‘step change’ in effort advised
by the UK Climate Change Committee is not apparent. For example, in the
transport sector there is an actual reduction in effort and no Scottish
Government polices to address the issue.

Councils
are of course facing a very difficult time as they are bearing the brunt of the
spending cuts and their workforce is being slashed by a much higher proportion
than other public services. Despite this they are key players and many are doing excellent
work in specific areas. However, it is
not easy to make an overall assessment of progress across their full remit and
their duties under the Scottish Climate Change Act due to lack of consistent
data on activities and emissions savings. Again this is something we warned
would happen without mandatory annual reporting.

On the ground I have to say that there is only limited evidence of the
culture change required. As we warned the guidance is vague and over reliant on
heroic leadership models. Green Workplace initiatives that build support for
cultural change from the bottom up are the exception and councils with a good record on
this like South Lanarkshire are rare. Procurement was to be an important
driver, but the Scottish Government has dropped ‘sustainable’ from its
Procurement Bill and that sends out the wrong message. Planning should play an important part in meeting climate change targets but hard pressed planning officers are juggling to many other competing priorities. Development plans should have an explicit statement to show how they will contribute to the reduction of emissions.While local authorities want to play their part in reducing emissions their capacity to do so is being undermined by the cuts. There are examples of positive action but there is not enough sharing of good practice and reporting is inconsistent. Top down leadership models hamper the engagement of staff. Today's report by the Sustainable Scotland Network highlights some of these problems and makes sensible, if modest, recommendations for change.

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About Me

I am the Head of Policy and Public Affairs at UNISON, Scotland’s largest trade union.
I am a Board member at the Reid Foundation and Keir Hardie Society. Secretary of the Socialist Health Association Scotland. Past Chair of the Scottish Labour Party and SEC member.
Graduate in Law from University of Strathclyde. Fellow of the RSA.
I edit Utilities Scotland and Pensions Scotland and also regularly blog at Public Works, Red Paper, SHA Scotland and Revitalise Scottish Labour.